“Books are like seeds. They can lie dormant for centuries and then flower in the most unpromising soil.” (Carl Sagan); “Nothing ever dies on the Internet.” (anon.); “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” (Madison Ave. [m]adman). My posts amalgamate these three philosophical elements into one novel experience; they champion critical thinking, human dignity / equality, levelheaded / even-handed / liberty-based governance and solid environmental stewardship. C’mon in!
If you’re ISO hyperactive, chattering chipmunks, a melting down snowman and/or a sleigh-riding / joyriding Santa getting involved in a hit and run slaying of beloved Grandma, etc., this Blogcast will certainly fall short of your expectations.
While such inanity might play out well were we still living in a make-believe, winter wonderland where all is well… WELL… what can I say? We know that’s not true.
Insanity best describes the reality of post Election Day America… a troubled land where far too many folks (not content with making horrific choices up and down their recently cast ballots) have been going on a “celebratory” rampage… one which has, to date, resulted in over 900 hate crimes. And it’s safe to say that they’re far from finished.
Which all provides the perfect lead-in to my holiday Blogcast and my twofold goal. The five tunes I’ve selected will…
Validate those of us, who, year round, already live the spirit of this holiday season.
Remind those who have lost their way that it’s high time to do some serious soul searching… to spark what little compassion may still lurk in their hearts. Maybe then, they’ll stop intimidating and abusing women, ethnic and religious minorities, the LGBTQ community and the aged and disabled?
Well… we can only hope. I mean this, supposedly, is the season of hope… right?
Let’s all keep some good thoughts while giving a listen to the four remaining musical selections…
Peter, Paul and Mary ~ Don’t Laugh at Me
New song “One Woman” (International Women’s Day – 3/8/13)
Mint Juleps ~ Every Kinda People
The Workers ~ Let’s Work Together
If you’ve found the above musical, political and social commentary to your liking, meet me back here for my next Blogcast on January 1, 2017.
CommonSenseTom
10:18 am on July 17, 2016 Tags: Anushka Shankar, Ashwin Batish, B.J. Thomas, Beatles ( 25 ), Bombay Boogie, canned heat, Chillout Forever, east / west fusion music, Eastern Music, electric sitar, Hooked On A Feeling, India, Indian Music, Magic Sitar Hindi, Niladri Kumar, Norwegian Wood ( 2 ), Nothing But Spirit, On The Road Again, Ragas, Ravi Shankar, sitar, Sitar Gaze (Reprise), tambura drone, Within Without You
My blog experiment to feature a four track long musical set per week per post continues… this being the 4th installment of my projected 13-week run. If you’ve missed any of my past posts, they’re archived in my “music” category.
As for my latest musical selections, I’ve segued tracks showcasing sitar players.
Back in the Sixties, the Beatles, primarily, were responsible for introducing me to Eastern / Indian influenced rock and I’m providing some linked bonus tracks… Norwegian Wood and Within Without You… to demonstrate how well the Fab Four incorporated this amazing stringed instrument into their band’s musical repertoire. Other Sixties recording artists were also experimenting with this East / West fusion, namely Canned Heat’s On The Road Again (featuring the tambura drone) and Pop Singer B.J. Thomas’ Hooked On A Feeling (featuring the electric sitar).
Aside from what you’ve just read above, don’t expect any further in depth musical analysis because I present the selections you hear, here, purely for the enjoyment of great music.
I do realize that tapping into our world’s vast musical spectrum can oft involve genres, which cannot possibly please all the people all the time. Even so… I’d encourage folks to be musically adventurous. That said… if these selections still are not your “cup of tea”… do click back again… you never can tell what you’ll be listening to next week.
Blog response will act as my Arbitron / Nielsen “radio ratings”… so… if you’ve enjoyed my “show”, click that “Like” Star. Of course, comments are always welcome, too!
Just as James Taylor sings about going to “Carolina In My Mind”, I now find myself blogging in a similar state of mind. The differences beyond the fact that J.T. is famous and I am not? Well… the state I’m longing for is California AND I’ll be blogging my words, not playing musical notes, to tell you just how homesick I am for the Golden State… but wait a moment…
Maybe it is possible to set my blog to music. After all… I did train to be a DJ. Folks, we’ll get those tunes spinning… after this brief message…
Here’s the backstory to my homesickness. It’s been ten+ years since I last set foot in La La Land to attend a family reunion for two… yes… essentially… my sister and I represent our entire family census… not counting distant relatives (who I could walk right past on any city street on any given day… and never know it).
By now I can hear you ask, “Ten+ years? Why wait any longer? Why not simply book a flight, pack up your bags and board the next westward bound jet?” Long sigh…
Well… since my last trip to the Left Coast… so much has happened… and not all those events would get entered into the plus column of my Life’s Ledger. To CliffsNotes it… there’s been a reversal of my good fortune… both money-wise and otherwise.
Naturally, I am thankful for reasonably good health, the roof over my head and the bare essential furnishings, devices and supplies under that roof… but… nonetheless… another long sigh… I do miss California. And I don’t feel it odd for this lifelong Michiganian to consider the greater Los Angeles area to be my home away from home.
Now… I do have one regret re my past visits… that I had only done my en route sightseeing from my widow seat at an altitude of 38,000 feet… instead of through my car’s windshield while traveling America’s highways and byways. But… what’s done is done.
And so… I’ll just have to settle for going to California in my mind ~ To be sure, no trip would be complete without first producing a “mix tape” featuring great road songs. To that end… I recently produced two C-90 cassettes to enhance my imaginary western journey… and at this time… there’s also a third project in the works (Volume 3 to feature a more hard driving rock genre).
As for this blog… I’ll be sharing my Volume 1 soundscape with you. Whether or not a similar posting for Volume 2 and 3 will occur is highly dependent on the number of hits and comments this blog receives.
A brief heads up… since this music is all courtesy of YouTube… from time to time there are bound to be interruptions of musical service.
For starters… these videos do frequently get deleted due to artist objections / copyright issues. Lastly… there are all of those commercials, which YouTubers tack on. But… what the H… “To dance to the music we must pay the piper”… right?
BESIDES… would not these gaps also enhance the realism of the road trip? Imagine this as if your car radio has temporarily lost a drifting, low wattage AM signal… something easily remedied by switching stations… i.e., clicking onto the next link. Also consider each commercial interruption as being akin to what we hear on AM top-40 formatted stations… as we all know… they’re oft forced to overbook advertisers… simply to pay for the electricity to stay on the air.
On a more positive note… since some of these YouTube videographers have poured a vast ocean’s worth of their talent into the visual aspects of their productions… it’s easy to trip out while viewing these scenes… thus making our going to Carolina OR California in our minds all the better… OR for that matter, anywhere else our l’il ol’ hearts may desire.
Replicated below is my liner notes printout, which I cut out and inserted into my “Volume 1” cassette’s case.
Well, that about covers the preliminaries… Without any further ado… everyone pack your bags, lock up your home sweet homes, kick the tires, adjust your rear view mirrors and car seats, buckle up, turn the key in your ignitions, get ‘er in gear and KICK OUT THE JAMS!!! We’ll soon find out if the Moody Blues gents got it right… that “Thinking is the best way to travel.”
To now paraphrase a Lennon/McCartney sentiment… let’s listen to the music playing in my head… and… hopefully… in yours, too!
CommonSenseTom 